Dave Ekins

Last updated

David Lawrence Ekins (born May 20, 1932) is an American off-road motorcycle racer who pioneered the sport of desert racing in the 1950s. [1] He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2001. [1]

Contents

Motorcycle racing career

Born in Los Angeles, California, Ekins followed his brother and fellow Motorcycle Hall of Fame member, Bud Ekins, into motorcycle racing. [1] [2] He and his brother honed their riding skills by riding the dirt trails in the hills above their Hollywood, California home. [1] Ekins' riding skill earned him sponsored racing motorcycles from factories such as; Velocette, Zundapp, Honda, Harley-Davidson and Bultaco. [1]

Ekins became one of the first American riders to use Honda motorcycles in desert races, helping usher in the era of lightweight, smaller-displacement off-road motorcycles. [1] [3] [4] In the late 1950s, most desert racers preferred heavy, ungainly, British parallel twin cylinder motorcycles. He competed in many of the most prestigious West Coast off-road races aboard motorcycles as small as 100ccs in displacement, often finishing ahead of competitors on larger motorcycles, including an overall victory at the 1967 Greenhorn Enduro aboard a 100cc Zundapp. [1] [5]

In 1962 [6] Ekins and Bill Robertson rode a Honda CL72 motorcycle almost the entire length of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula in less than 40 hours to set the Tijuana-to-La Paz, Mexico record. [1] [7] [8] Their speed record provided a challenge for other off-road competitors with both, motorcycles and four wheeled vehicles. [1] One of these challengers to Ekins' record run was Ed Pearlman, who decided to organize a yearly off-road race that became known as the Baja 1000. [1] [2]

In 1964 Ekins along with his brother, Bud, Steve McQueen and Cliff Coleman were members of the first American team to compete in the International Six Days Trial. [1] The International Six Day Trials, a form of off-road motorcycle Olympics, is the oldest annual competition sanctioned by the FIM dating back to 1913. [9] Ekins competed in five ISDT events and earned two gold medals and a bronze medal in the prestigious motorcycle competition. [1]

Ekins founded and launched the Sunline brand of motorcycle parts and accessories. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zündapp</span> German motorcycle manufacturer

Zündapp was a major German motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1917 in Nuremberg by Fritz Neumeyer, together with the Friedrich Krupp AG and the machine tool manufacturer Thiel under the name "Zünder- und Apparatebau G.m.b.H." as a producer of detonators. In 1919, as the demand for weapons parts declined after World War I, Neumeyer became the sole proprietor of the company, and two years later he diversified into the construction of motorcycles.

Penton was a rebadged American brand of off-road enduro motorcycles designed by John Penton and manufactured by KTM in Austria for distribution in the United States between 1968 and 1978.

James Sherwin "Bud" Ekins was an American professional stuntman in the U.S. film industry. He is considered to be one of the film industry's most accomplished stuntmen with a body of work that includes classic films such as The Great Escape and Bullitt. Ekins, acting as stunt double for Steve McQueen while filming The Great Escape, was the rider who performed what is considered to be one of the most famous motorcycle stunts ever performed in a movie. He was recognized for his stunt work by being inducted into the Stuntmen's Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enduro motorcycle</span>

An enduro motorcycle is an off-road racing motorcycle used in enduros, which are long-distance cross-country, Trails, time trial competitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Aldana</span> American motorcycle racer

David Aldana is an American former professional motorcycle racer who specialized in dirt track oval racing and road racing. In the 1970s, he was one of the more colorful racers in the A.M.A. Grand National Championship with his wild riding style and extravagant designs on his riding attire. Aldana competed in nearly every form of motorcycle racing, including competing in the 1970 Trans-AMA motocross series and speedway racing.

Michael Andrew “Mike” Kiedrowski is an American former professional motocross and enduro racer. He competed in the AMA Motocross Championships from 1987 to 1997. He is a four-time AMA motocross national champion. He is only the second competitor in AMA history after Jeff Ward to win national championships in the 125, 250 and 500 classes. Kiedrowski was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2007.

Ron Bishop was an American off-road motorcycle racer. He was a long-term participant in the Baja 1000 and other desert off-road races.

Gary Jones is an American former professional motocross and desert racer. He competed in the AMA Motocross Championships from 1971 to 1976. Jones is notable for winning the inaugural AMA 250cc motocross national championship in 1972. Jones then successfully defended his national championship in 1973 and 1974, winning three consecutive 250cc motocross national championships while competing on three different brands of motorcycles, a feat which has never been repeated in AMA motocross history. He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000.

Carl Lee Cranke was an American professional motorcycle enduro competitor. He represented the United States in 10 International Six Days Trial (ISDT) in the 1960s and 1970s. He earned seven gold medals and two silver medals in ISDT competitions to become one of the most accomplished American enduro riders of his era. Cranke was also notable for his two stroke engine tuning abilities, and was also credited with helping develop Penton motorcycles. He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000.

Richard Burleson is an American former motorcycle enduro racer. He is considered one of the top competitors in AMA history, winning a record eight consecutive Enduro National Championships. His domination of the national enduro series earned him the nickname King Richard. Burleson was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999 and was named an AMA Legend in 2016.

Billy Uhl is an American former professional motorcycle enduro competitor. He represented the United States in the International Six Day Trials in the 1970s, winning five gold medals.

James Nelson "J. N." Roberts, is an American former professional off-road and enduro motorcycle racer and a film industry stuntman. In the 1960s and early 1970s, he was a dominant motorcycle competitor in American desert racing centered in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. At one point in his desert racing career, Roberts won 27 consecutive desert races, earning him the unofficial nickname of King of the Desert. Roberts was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999 and, into the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2009. He is also a member of the Hollywood Stuntmen's Hall Of Fame.

Larry Roeseler is an American professional off-road racer. He is notable for having won the prestigious Baja 1000 desert race a record 13 times, the most of any competitor since the race's inception in 1967. His victories made him one of the most accomplished multi-discipline desert racers in off-road racing history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pasadena Motorcycle Club</span> American motorcycle club

The Pasadena Motorcycle Club is an American motorcycle club known, from its founding in 1907 through the 1970s, for sponsoring events such as enduro and hare and hound races, and, since the 1980s, for street riding, poker runs and charity events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of motorcycles and motorcycling</span> Overview of and topical guide to motorcycles and motorcycling

The following outline is provided as an overview of motorcycles and motorcycling:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Flat Track</span>

American Flat Track is an American motorcycle racing series. The racing series, founded and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1954, originally encompassed five distinct forms of competitions including mile dirt track races, half-mile, short-track, TT steeplechase and road races. The championship was the premier motorcycle racing series in the United States from the 1950s up until the late 1970s.

Bruce Ogilvie was an American off-road motorcycle racer. He was a top American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) District 37 desert racer, winner of multiple Baja 500 and Baja 1000 races, and a long-time manager of American Honda’s off-road race team. Ogilvie was posthumously inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2010.

John Penton was an American professional motorcycle racer and entrepreneur who developed an enduro motorcycle brand that bore his name. A national champion enduro rider, he was an influential figure in the development of off-road motorcycle racing in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. He also founded a successful off-road motorcycle boot and apparel company. Penton was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.

Ricky Brabec is an American professional off-road and rally raid motorcycle racer. He is prominent for being the first American competitor to win the motorcycle division of the Dakar Rally in 2020.

Scot Harden is a professional off-road motorcycle racer. He has held managerial and executive positions at Husqvarna, KTM, BMW, and Zero Motorcycles.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Dave Ekins at the AMA Hall of Fame". motorcyclemuseum.org. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Bud Ekins at the AMA Hall of Fame". motorcyclemuseum.org. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  3. ↑ "Honda's First Four Years in America: and you thought it was easy". motohistory.net. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  4. ↑ "American Honda Motor Company and Honda Motor Company". budanddaveekins.com. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  5. ↑ "Greenhorn Enduro Winners". district37ama.org. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  6. ↑ "A Ride Down the Peninsula".
  7. ↑ "Honda's First Four Years in America". motohistory.net. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  8. ↑ "A Ride Down The Peninsula". budanddaveekins.com. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  9. ↑ "History of the International Six Day Trials". ultimatemotorcycling.com. 25 October 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.